Silver Linings Playbook

Synopsis

Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solitano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the...

Production Details

Synopsis

Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solitano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them..

SHOWTIMES

Silver Linings Playbook

A character drama with a twisted sense of humor, Silver Linings Playbook follows Pat (Bradley Cooper), a recently released psychiatric hospital patient who moves back in with his parents and begins a quest to reclaim his broken marriage. Despite the warnings from doctors, Pat's mom Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and dad Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) take him in, hoping familiar settings and a little Eagles football may be the perfect cure. It isn't — Pat continuously loses his s**t over his ex-wife Nikki, frantically stressing over her high school English class' reading syllabus (he toss Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms straight through a glass window) and breaking down every time he hears their wedding song. There's no hope for him and Nikki — catching her with another man and beating him to a pulp led to his institutionalizing — but Pat's focused mind doesn't let him deviate.

After being invited to a friend's house for dinner, Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who sees a friendship in the bipolar patient. After the death of her husband, Tiffany went off the deep end, engaging anyone and everyone for sex. She's sees a companion in Pat, and although he's reluctant, the off-kilter pair can't fight the magnetic power of their psychological issues. Most of their conversations end in screaming or blunt admissions — but they're relatable.

Mental illness and human connection may sound like an equation for eye-roll-worthy saccharine, but director David O. Russell mines Cooper and Lawrence's comedic strengths to turn Silver Linings Playbook into one of the funniest movies of the year. Nothing is off limits for Russell; one reoccurring joke is that Pat can't stop bringing up the fact that Tiffany's husband is dead. As Tiffany puts it to Pat, ''You say more inappropriate things than appropriate things.'' To make Pat aware of how his bipolar existence affects the people around him, and to make us, the audience, feel for this heart-wrenching experience, Russell shoots and paces Silver Linings Playbook for awkward comedy. He also returns to the always-reliable family dynamic. The Fighter is to Boston as Silver Linings Playbook is to Philadelphia, De Niro perfecting the Eagles-loving everyman with a collection of betting buddies who may be just as delusional as Pat. The legendary actor proved he had comedy chops in Meet the Parents, but here he blends it with gravitas that earned him a legacy in the first place. Rush Hour actor Chris Tucker also pops up as Pat's good friend from the institution. More restrained than ever, Tucker helps add warmth to the picture. Pat has a support system everywhere he turns. In essence, the film emanates with positive vibes.

Even with a great ensemble, Silver Linings Playbook is Cooper and Lawrence's show. To the bitter end, Pat and Tiffany never get sappy with one another, always at each other's throats over the feelings they harbor and the pasts they can't shake away. Cooper loses himself in the chaotic mind of Pat without ever slipping into a caricature of the mentally ill. He can stir up laughs with his desperate search for Pat's missing wedding video and then shock us in the blink of an eye when things turn violent. Impressively, Lawrence's Tiffany is never written down. She never succumbs to being a comforting presence, always provoking Pat to push himself. She's a strong woman, but a strong woman juggling her own set of issues. Lawrence conveys all of that without missing a beat. That dynamic should be make Silver Linings Playbook the talk of the town come Oscar time.

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